


just short of a fairytale

by bellawritess



Series: jalex prompts [7]
Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emphasis on Comfort, Established Relationship, Happy Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Nightmares, it is Emphasis On Comfort but it definitely Features Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:15:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28024587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellawritess/pseuds/bellawritess
Summary: "Nightmare?"Jack nods, and Alex pulls him closer, tighter. "Well, I can promise you it wasn't real," he says delicately, kissing the back of Jack's neck and pressing his face into Jack's skin, as ifhe'sthe one seeking comfort, when he's not.It's Jack who needs it. Jack who needs Alex. It's so fucking stupid to need him for this, but he does anyway.
Relationships: Jack Barakat/Alex Gaskarth
Series: jalex prompts [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1993036
Comments: 12
Kudos: 22





	just short of a fairytale

**Author's Note:**

  * For [myownway](https://archiveofourown.org/users/myownway/gifts).



> [myownway](https://archiveofourown.org/users/myownway) gave me a prompt which was basically jack has a nightmare and alex comforts him and i was like hmm i don't know if i can write this and then i wrote it. i hope i did it justice and @ myownway i don't know your name buddy but i see you on all the jalex shit i write and i appreciate it more than you could possibly know so i really hope you enjoy this!!
> 
> title from nightmares by all time low. shocker i know :)
> 
> also [here's a cheeky lil tumblr link](https://clumsyclifford.tumblr.com/post/637286017561509888/just-short-of-a-fairytale) for if you feel like reading/reblogging it there !!!

It's too loud in here.

By _here,_ Jack means his head, and by _loud_ , he means this…this angry static, this crackling not-silence that won't let up. It's been at him all day and it's starting to wear him out. He wants to be _here_ , watching _Tiger King_ with Alex, honestly he does, but he's so tired.

When the first episode ends, Jack reluctantly says, "I'm gonna turn in, actually."

"Really?" Alex frowns. "It's only ten."

"Yeah, I'm just tired."

"You okay?" Alex asks, because Alex always asks, either out of some sense of obligation or just because he can always tell when Jack isn't.

"Yeah," Jack lies, pretending like it's the truth because maybe that will make it so. "Honestly just tired. I feel like today was long."

"It was," Alex allows. He squeezes Jack's hand as Jack stands up. "Okay, well, I'm gonna probably put on _Project Runway_ then, and I'll come to bed in a little bit."

Because Jack doesn't like Alex's dumb reality show obsession, and of fucking course Alex is considerate enough both to not force Jack to watch them and to not get ahead on _Tiger King_ without him. Fuck. Jack loves him. 

"Okay," he says tiredly. "I love you. Goodnight."

"'Night, love you. Sleep well."

Jack trails into the bedroom and barely manages to free himself of his jeans and t-shirt, brush his teeth, and crawl into bed before sleep pulls at him. _Thank God,_ he thinks as he goes under. _Fucking finally._

When he jolts awake, his heart is racing.

"Alex?" he manages, before he's even really conscious. His body is still trying to catch up, but his mind is going a mile a minute; something bad is happening, or has happened, and Jack needs Alex, or at least needs to see his face, needs proof that he's here, needs proof that Jack is imagining things like he so often does. "Alex," he repeats, louder this time, desperation dripping from his voice. "Alex?"

Seconds later, Alex appears in the doorway. "Hey, what's up?" There must be something in Jack's face — some haunted look, something — that has Alex at his side immediately, clambering into bed and wrapping his arms around Jack. "Nightmare?"

Jack nods, and Alex pulls him closer, tighter. "Well, I can promise you it wasn't real," he says delicately, kissing the back of Jack's neck and pressing his face into Jack's skin, as if _he_ 's the one seeking comfort, when he's not.

It's Jack who needs it. Jack who needs Alex. It's so fucking stupid to need him for this, but he does anyway. "I know," Jack says in a shaky exhale. "I know, I know, thank you for coming anyway."

"Yeah, of course. I'm here for you. I'm here. Always here, babe."

"Yeah." Jack swallows. He closes his eyes, trying to soak in the comfort of Alex, but the darkness behind his eyelids brings back faint impressions of what had been one of Jack's worst nightmares yet. At this point he should know better than to fall asleep with static in his brain; it inevitably resolves into demons, shadows, monsters, the shit that lurks in the back of his mind, the shit he's worked so hard to lock up forever. He shouldn't have to deal with this anymore. Nightmares are for children, and needing to be reassured after having one is even more juvenile.

But. Fuck. He still craves it, and Alex always gives it willingly, and if Jack's going to be plagued by nightmares he might as well get something out of it.

“Feel like talking it out?” Alex murmurs. His back is flush against Alex’s front and Alex’s fingers skid over Jack’s shirt, above his stomach, gentle and methodical. Warmth, as always, traps itself between them, heating Jack’s skin.

Jack sighs. Normally he says no, but Alex always checks. Jack used to wonder why. 

Tonight, though…maybe he does. Or at least he’d like to fill the the empty silence, which is starting to feel louder than his head. There are too many things in there, but maybe getting them out of his brain will fill the quiet with something other than a vacuum.

“It wasn’t even —” He shakes his head. “I mean, I don’t want to talk about the dream, but I just…”

Alex is patient, a trait he rarely displays. It’s infinitely more compelling to have Alex waiting on him when he knows Alex will always choose to race ahead and finish first. Jack takes a breath. 

"It’s like," Jack mumbles, "I used to be scared by them. Like they were scary. But like, in a scary way. Obviously. I mean, fuck.” Pause. Swallow. Jack collects himself. “Like I'd cry, and all. I'd always call for my mom. She was so annoyed because sometimes I would wake up at like three in the morning and I'd have to go into my parents' room and wake my mom up." Alex shifts slightly, and Jack sinks further into his chest as some of the tension seeps out of his body. "Then I think it stopped for a little while in school, but now it's like…" He tries to pull together the scattered fragments of this thought, because he's gotten this far into it, and he wants to reach the end of it, to say it. If only to put it out there and see what Alex thinks. 

Breathing deep, he tries again. "Okay. When I was younger, it was scary shit, but I always knew it wasn't real. 'Cause I didn't really know how the world worked. So I didn't know what stuff was actually gonna be scary, and my brain would just make it up. I'd get nightmares, but even while I was in the middle of one I would know that it was a nightmare. But now…I know all this bad shit about the world. Bad shit has happened to me and to people I care about. And now they're so much worse, because I can't wake up and promise myself that that would _never_ happen in real life. Nobody can promise me that. It might happen. Some of them have happened, just not to me. But any day now, I don't know." He inhales, exhales, squeezes his eyes shut tighter. "I'm so scared now that something I've dreamt about will actually happen and then I will have literally nothing I can say. Like it's my last line of defense to say it could never happen, but if it does, then I'm fucked, you know? Not that I'm not already fucked, but I'm more fucked."

And with that he turns over, burying his face in Alex's chest because the room feels too big all of a sudden, and Alex is safety and comfort and home. Alex won't let him go. He never has.

There’s a lull. Then Alex, quietly, says, “I get that.” 

Jack could cry. In this state maybe he will. He's never sure if he's making sense or talking shit, especially now, and Alex saying that he understands means the world to Jack, because sometimes Jack feels like an eight-year-old gazing in awe at his musical idol Alex Gaskarth and he wonders why Alex would ever choose Jack, would choose to love him over anyone else. It's not like their relationship is lopsided — there are things Jack can do and give that Alex struggles with — but it doesn't stop Jack feeling, sometimes, like he's not enough, like all of him and all he has to offer could never be good enough for the likes of Alex.

"It makes sense," Alex continues. Jack pulls himself back into the real world. "I wish there was something I could do. Or something I could say. I know it's not helpful to be like _nightmares aren't real and you're gonna be fine_. Even if that's true."

Jack swallows. "Yeah. Exactly." He curls his fingers into the cotton of Alex's shirt. "But let me ask you this: are you going to leave me?"

Alex makes a noise of distress. "What? Never."

Jack breathes out slowly. "Okay then," he whispers. "I can handle the rest as long as you’re around.”

Alex scratches lightly at Jack's scalp, sending a tingling warmth down to his neck and shoulders. "I promise to never leave you," he vows. "I can't think of anything at all that would ever compel me to." 

"I didn't say _never_."

"Well, I did," Alex says fiercely. " _Never_ , I'll never _ever_ leave you, I love you way too much to leave. That would be like — like the Moon leaving the Earth's orbit."

The warmth in Jack's shoulders diffuses itself now to the rest of his body, through each limb, out to his fingertips where they rest on Alex's shirt. "You're saying you're in my orbit?"

"Of course I am," Alex says, voice soft over Jack's head. "But I love it, Jack. I've got the best seat in the house to watch you be you. Being the Moon rules."

Jack feels a laugh building up in his chest, coupled with the less oppressive heat of what he's pretty sure is love — it's what he always feels around Alex, but sometimes it's stronger, and now it's like someone's cranked the burner high and hasn't covered the flame. "I'm definitely in your orbit, not the other way around," he says. 

"Nope."

"I so am."

"You're talking to a solar system expert here. I think I would know."

The laugh escapes, hot in Jack's face as it bounces off Alex's chest. After a moment of self-assessment, Jack realizes his heartbeat is back to normal, and he kicks his feet against the mattress to push himself up the bed until he can meet Alex's eyes, until their noses are almost touching.

"Thanks," he murmurs. Alex presses a kiss to his forehead.

"Anytime, my love. Always."

"What time is it?" In the commotion, he'd forgotten to look at the clock. 

"Midnight, almost," Alex says, and, as if on cue, he yawns. "I was just about to come to bed anyway, so you couldn't have timed this better."

"Oh, no problem," Jack says wryly. "Glad it worked out."

Alex laughs. "Are you okay if I go get ready for bed? Six minutes?"

Jack nods. "I'm okay now," he says, sincerely. He's fine now, and the static brain from earlier is gone, and even with Alex smiling and laughing and rustling the bed sheets, Jack realizes with a start that it's quiet.

It's quiet, and Jack settles back against the pillows as he watches Alex get dressed to sleep. There's still noise, but it's not that kind of quiet. This quiet is more like peace. Jack could live in it forever, and ( _never, I'll never ever leave you_ ) he just might.

**Author's Note:**

> so! hope you liked!!! if you wanna come say hey, i'm on tumblr [@clumsyclifford](http://clumsyclifford.tumblr.com/) and i love to chat !! thanks see ya


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